Background:

the aim of the study was to assess the association between breakfast and the level of physical activity and different anthropometric variables in children attending primary school.

Methods:

we performed a cross-sectional study (n = 248; age, 10.25 ± 1.45 years=). We obtained the items to assess breakfast from the KIDMED questionnaire on the adherence to the Mediterranean diet. We assessed physical activity by means of the Spanish version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) and calculated the body mass index with the Quetelet equation.

Results:

10.5% of the schoolchildren did not eat breakfast routinely, and children that skipped breakfast were older (p <0.013), taller (p <0.005) and had lower levels of physical activity (p <0.001). We found a significant tendency toward an increased BMI in those that consumed industrial baked goods at breakfast (p <0.058). We found significant proportions of boys and girls that ate this type of food at breakfast (77.6% versus 80.9%). A higher proportion of boys ate breakfast compared to girls (p <0.021). In the female subgroup, girls that had breakfast habitually were significantly younger (p <0.022), of shorter stature (p <0.034) and had a higher level of physical activity (p <0.006). The logistic regression analysis revealed that eating breakfast (p <0.015), consuming dairy at breakfast (p <0.001) and consuming cereal (p <0.005) were associated with a higher level of physical activity.

Conclusions:

based on these findings, health professionals and educators in the public school system should cooperate with parents to prioritise interventions to promote and maintain healthy breakfast habits in primary school children.

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